There's plenty of misinformation circulating about eels, frogs, crocodiles, alligators and snakes, said Peter Brazaitis, a retired zoo curator and author of ``You Belong in a Zoo.''

After a 40-year career of dealing with reptiles and amphibians, Brazaitis can share plenty of factual stories and dispel just as many myths. And that's what he plans to do in a presentation this evening at Harwinton Consolidated School.

Brazaitis, who is still an on-call consultant for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, will show photos from his extensive research into endangered saltwater crocodiles on Palau, a tiny island nation east of the Philippines. Palau enjoys year-round temperatures in the low 80s and is a tremendously popular spot for snorkeling and sport fishing, and Brazaitis' presentation is appropriately called ``Crocodiles in Paradise.''

``We made three trips there. On the last one, we saw 45 crocodiles and captured five for blood samples,'' Brazaitis said Wednesday morning from his Harwinton home. ``Some go up to 15 or 18 feet long. You never know.''

Brazaitis will focus on his Palau adventures, but will also tell stories from his years as superintendent of reptiles at the Bronx Zoo and later as a reptile curator at the Central Park Zoo. New York-area police departments have called on him to help chase eels, cobras and other exotic creatures that escaped from their owners.

Despite decades of persistent tales, though, there are no alligator colonies living in Manhattan's sewer pipes. People have foolishly bought baby alligators as pets, and may even have flushed some down toilets or thrown them into the East River -- but the gators would never have survived their first winter, Brazaitis said.

``Way back in the '20s, people were talking about sewer workers finding alligators in New York. It never happened,'' Brazaitis said. ``The Virginia-North Carolina line is about the northernmost range for them. They just couldn't survive in anywhere near the temperatures we have up here. Also, they're clean-living animals -- they couldn't live with the bacteria and toxic materials.''

Brazaitis and his colleagues did find two alligators in reservoirs on Long Island years ago, but those had recently been released there by a disgruntled owner, he said.

``The police had gotten reports from people who'd seen them, and they tried searching with helicopters and rowboats. They finally called us in, and we got them the first night. The funny thing was, some guy had been writing to the press threatening to release one alligator every day unless they lowered the property tax rate.''

American crocodiles need even more heat than alligators, and don't venture north of Florida. But what some people might believe is an urban legend is, in fact, true: Crocodiles nest in the manmade canals that carry cooling water from the reactor at a nuclear power plant in Turkey Point, Fla., he said.

``Since they've been an endangered specials, the power utility has been letting them stay. It's good press for them -- nuclear power actually preserving a species,'' he said.

Brazaitis also will talk about searching for rare frogs in West Africa and giant crocodiles in Venezuela, and various hunts for eels and cobras that have been on the loose in and around New York.

Brazaitis' presentation at 6:30 p.m. is being hosted by the Harwinton Consolidated School PTA as a fund-raiser for its planned playscape. Admission will be free, but donations will be accepted and copies of Brazaitis' book will be on sale. The Harwinton Historical Society will provide snacks.